Back to Daming to be a genius

Chapter 67 Into the Tiger's Den
(PS: I'm too busy with things today, I'll make sure on the first update, and try my best on the second update.)
"Unity of will, drought and disaster relief! The ancients said: People are good for yang, and the righteous will repay it; Deceive people and listen to it. Today, Shandong is plagued by drought, and there has been drought and no rain for years. The disaster has already appeared. Today, the saint is benevolent, and he feels that it is better to dig a well when he is thirsty. Purchase grain and fodder and transport it to the disaster area, relieve the victims, save the common people from the water and fire, and relieve the common people from the sea of ​​suffering. Hope that the common people, officials and gentry in the south of the Yangtze River will plant a lot of blessing fields, actively donate money, and give generously. Patrol Jiangnan Minister, Zhang."

In front of the county government office in Wuxi County, Changzhou, where Donglin Academy is located, Gao Panlong, Huang Zunsu, Miao Changqi, and Qian Qianyi, a group of Donglin Confucian scholars, led hundreds of Donglin students to read in a low voice. The notice - this is also the notice posted at the same time by the government offices of all counties in the south of the Yangtze River.On the other side of the gate of the county government, Liu Wuwei, the county magistrate of Wuxi, led a group of government servants holding donation boxes, begging and shouting to passers-by like beggars, "Folks, folks, Shandong has suffered a disaster, and there has been a long drought and no rain. There is no harvest in the fields, famine is imminent, we Wuxi people have the money to contribute money, we can contribute to help the people in Shandong! Accumulate good deeds, reap good fruits, folks, give some help to the people in Shandong.”

It was May, and the sun was scorching hot. Liu Wuwei, who was sick, shouted and coughed violently, appearing to be working very hard.However, most of the Donglin scholars who are close at hand turned a blind eye to it, and only some poor fishermen from the past took the initiative to take out a few pitiful copper coins and put them in the donation box held by Liu Wuwei himself. , "Master Liu, the sun is too big, you are not in good health, don't stand under the sun for too long." Liu Wuwei nodded gratefully, and said repeatedly, "Thank you fellow, thank you fellow."

Seeing such a scene, Qian Qianyi, the great Confucian of Donglin who had just rushed back to Wuxi from Tongzhou, was delighted, and said with a smile, "Liu Wuwei, an old corrupt official, has not been dismissed yet? How can he be so loved by foolish couples? Really? Strange too."

Qian Qianyi laughed very loudly, and Liu Wuwei who was not far away could hear him clearly, but he didn't dare to say anything. If anyone in the world suffers from splint anger the most, it must be the county magistrate of Wuxi.The famous Donglin Academy is located in his county, and the Donglin party members are all over the government and the public, and their forces are intertwined. Of course, Liu Wuwei, who is in a humble position, cannot be provoked.At the same time, because Donglin Academy was located in Wuxi, and hated the house and black, eunuch officials naturally regarded the Wuxi county magistrate as a punching bag, and they were scolded and punished every three days.Therefore, Liu Wuwei, who is a neutral faction, had no choice but to pretend to be deaf and dumb, and buried himself in his practical work, and continued to shout: "Folks, the world is one family, and the people of Shandong are brothers and sisters of our Wuxi people. We ordinary people in Wuxi cannot sit idly by..."

Liu Wuwei pretended to be deaf and dumb, but Qian Qianyi refused to let him go, and said loudly on purpose, "It's really hard work, is it to build some kind of Furongwei to embezzle the library bank, for fear of being found out by some imperial envoy?" After saying that, the Donglin disciples from Qian's family laughed, and Liu Wuwei, who was eccentric, sneered.And Liu Wuwei, who was staying at his job to listen to the investigation by the court, was shocked and wanted to speak, but turned his head away with tears in his eyes, and continued to cry and beg for disaster relief donations.At this time, one of the disciples of Donglin present couldn't stand it any longer, stood up and said loudly: "Master Qian, whether Liu county magistrate is greedy for ink is still undecided, but he tried his best to build Furongwei against all opinions, but it is a piece of land for the country. Even if we Donglin students don’t agree with the people’s love for the people, we can’t add insult to injury at this moment, right?”

"Shi Kefa! Do you have a say here?" Qian Qianyi was furious, and shouted at Shi Kefa who raised objections: "Huangkou kid, what do you know? Liu Wuwei spent money and money digging Jiuhe for a mere dozens of acres of land. It's called water conservancy, but it's actually self-interested! Master Guangshi Hengguang has already handed over his impeachment memorial, and you plan to follow the example of Zhang Haogu, the dog, and reverse the verdict for him? You are doing this so-called disaster relief fundraising today, cheating The money received, who is the cheapest in the end? Zhang Haogu, the stray dog ​​who framed your teacher Zuo Guangdou and imprisoned cheaply!"

Shi Kefa was speechless, but Liu Wuwei over there couldn't bear it anymore. He put down the cash box and was about to come over to argue with Qian Qianyi, but he saw Gao Panlong, the former censor of Zuodu, Miao Changqi, the former reviewer of the Imperial Academy, and Huang Zunsu, the former censor of the capital. There are more than 200 Donglin students from gentry families around Qian Qianyi, Liu Wuwei still resentfully gave up this plan, picked up the cash box again and continued shouting at the onlookers.At this time, several merchants from the Wuxi Fishing Company came in, each took out a few big silver coins to donate, Qian Qianyi hurriedly pouted to his disciple Zhou Bi, Zhou Bi understood, and stepped forward to stop the merchants from the Fishing Company , smiled and said: "Several officials, what are you planning to do?"

"Of course it is a donation to the disaster victims." A businessman replied.Zhou Bi said with a smile: "Several officials, your Bodhisattva heart to help the poor is really worthy of admiration, but if you donate to the imperial envoy sent by the imperial court, Mr. Zhang, then you are very wrong. You Do you know, who is this new imperial envoy, Mr. Zhang?"

"Who?" Several businessmen asked suspiciously.Zhou Biao replied with a smile: "Nicknamed Zhang Papi, also known as Zhang Baidi, he lives up to his name. You can imagine what it's like to be an official. It's not easy for a few high-ranking officials to earn some money. Why use this to feed such supercilious eyes?" Wolf? I'm afraid that [-]% of the money donated by you guys will fall into the pocket of Zhang Haogu, [-]% will go into the hands of other corrupt officials, and the rest will go to Zhang Haogu's servants. Whether the small half can be exchanged for food and sent to the disaster area is still a matter of debate.”

"Damn it, it turns out that Zhang Haogu has the same kind of virtue, I don't want to donate anymore." Several businessmen came to donate money because of Liu Wuwei's face, and their hearts were not sincere. It was to take back the money, and turned away cursing. Liu Wuwei gritted his teeth in anger, but was afraid of the power of the Donglin Party members, so he didn't dare to say anything—fortunately, Young Master Zhang didn't forcibly apportion the donations to various prefectures and counties. Liu Wuwei There is no need to worry about failing to complete the apportionment.

"Zhou Bi, come back." Li Sancai and Ye Xianggao's successor, Gao Panlong, the leader of the Donglin Party and the head of the Donglin Academy, finally spoke, calling back Zhou Bi, who was smirking, and told all the Donglin students: "Go back. Go study, the day after tomorrow will be the annual Donglin Scholars Conference. Donglin Scholars from all over Jiangnan and countless Jiangnan Scholars will come to Wuxi to gather. You should learn from your predecessors and let them see you academic situation."

"I would like to abide by the dean's order." All the students in Donglin agreed in unison, and left with Gao Panlong, Qian Qianyi and others.It wasn't until they walked away that the poor people who watched came forward one after another, put the sweat-stained copper coins into the donation box held by Liu Wuwei, and persuaded them one after another: "Master Liu, you have worked hard, take a rest. Don't stand against the sun." "Master Liu, you must take care of yourself. If you fall down, who will take us to build the Furong Fair?" "Master Liu, the completion of the Furong Fair will make it easier for us ordinary people. .We support you. If the higher authorities dare to dismiss you, we ordinary people in Wuxi will cry out for you and go to Beijing to sue you!"

"Thank you, thank you folks." Liu Wuwei was moved to tears, and wiped the corners of his eyes and said: "Fellow folks, please rest assured that although I, Liu Wuwei, have been retained to attend the hearing, I believe that this time the imperial envoy sent by the imperial court , will definitely wash away my grievances for Liu Wuwei and return my innocence."

"Yes, yes, the imperial envoy this time must be a good man." The people in Wuxi echoed one after another, and someone shouted: "Folks, let's donate a little to the refugees in Shandong. I heard that the imperial envoy sent by the imperial court this time In addition to supervising the administration of officials, the imperial envoy also raises funds for disaster relief. The people of Wuxi donate a lot, and when the imperial envoy is happy, he will definitely re-investigate the case of Lord Liu and return his innocence."

In response to all the calls, farmers and fishermen who were so poor that their clothes were patched and patched stretched their hands into their arms, took out copper coins that were still warm, and rushed to put them into the donation box in front of Liu Wuwei, making Liu Wuwei turn around and persuade the people, "Fellow villagers , you are not rich, and you still have to live, so donate less, so it must not affect your life."

…………

When the crowd gradually dispersed, it was already afternoon. Because of the heavy rain in the past few days, Liu Wuwei, who was sick, took a few yamen servants and rushed to the Furongwei embankment in the northwest of Wuxi County to check the flood in the dike regardless of his fatigue. Is there flooding.When he arrived at the construction site, Liu Wuwei breathed a sigh of relief—although the water level in Furong Wei was high, the banks of the fifty-mile pond he led the Wuxi people to build were intact. Big rocks and soil bags piled up beside the embankment like a mountain, ready to be put into rescue and disaster relief at any time.Seeing this scene, Liu Wuwei wiped the sweat from his brow, and said with relief: "It's worth it, no matter how much I get scolded, I'm worth it."

"Master Liu, Master Liu is here." The people patrolling the embankment also saw Liu Wuwei, and rushed forward to salute Liu Wuwei.Some people shouted excitedly: "Master Liu, thank you. With you building this embankment, we can live in peace of mind in the future, and we will no longer be afraid of drought and rain! You are really our water god in Wuxi!"

"No, no, this embankment was built by the people of Wuxi, and Liu Wuwei just took the lead. The people who really built the embankment are you Wuxi people." Liu Wuwei replied modestly.The eyes of the masses are discerning. Before Liu Wuwei finished speaking, the poor people shouted, "Master Liu, if you say that, then we will be ashamed to death. Who doesn't know, Mr. Liu, in order to build this embankment, you Sell ​​all your land and houses, and donate all the money to us Wuxi people to repair embankments?"

"Since Mr. Liu is so good, he gave all his property to the common people to repair water conservancy projects." A discordant voice rang out from the crowd, and they asked loudly with a northern accent: "Why do people still participate in him in the court to waste people's money? Why do they participate in his embezzlement?" Ku Yin?"

As soon as this remark came out, everyone was shocked, Liu Wuwei also looked for the sound, but saw that the speaker was a young scholar holding a folding fan on the periphery of the crowd, with a very handsome appearance, and four young servants stood behind him.The handsome scholar waving his folding fan saw that everyone was looking at him with anger in his eyes, so he said with a smile: "Dear fellows, don't get me wrong, I am not saying bad things about Mr. Liu. I am from a foreign place, so I don't know what is going on here. Therefore, I feel a little strange, why would someone say bad things about such a good official as Mr. Liu in the court?"

"It's not because of this dam." A commoner shouted: "Before Lord Liu rebuilt the Furongxu dam, this area was either drought or flood, and tens of thousands of acres of fertile land were wasted, and there were no crops at all. Master Liu took office. Later, he took us to rebuild the Furongxu dike and dam, and dug a dike river to lead directly to the canal. When it rains heavily, the water can be sent into the canal, and when it is dry, the water from the canal can be diverted to irrigate the crops. Tens of thousands of acres of wasteland have become There is also an additional place for good farmland and fishermen to fish without having to brave the wind and waves to enter Taihu Lake. The rich man in Wuxi was jealous, so he sent money to Mr. Liu, hoping that Mr. Liu would force us to convert the original wasteland to the current land. They wanted to sell their fertile land to them, and wanted Mr. Liu to prohibit the common people from fishing in Furong Lake, and only allowed them to fish in fishing shops. Mr. Liu refused, and they went to the court to falsely accuse Liu on the basis that they had relatives who were officials in the court. My lord, I want to force lord Liu away so that they can rob us of our land."

"Oh, so that's the case." The handsome young man nodded, and asked again: "Then why don't you complain for Mr. Liu? I heard that the famous Donglin Academy is in Wuxi County. All of them are senior officials who have retired from the imperial court, and they are very powerful in the imperial court; there are also students there, all of whom are from rich or noble families, and some of them are the children of officials. If you go to Donglin Academy to complain, there must be some people. I'm in charge of you."

"Hahahahahaha..." I don't know where the handsome young man made a mistake, and the poor people present burst into laughter, and several people shouted at the same time: "Young master, you are really from other places! , Our rich man in Wuxi, didn’t he send his son to study in Donglin Academy, didn’t he donate money to Donglin Academy every year? We go to Donglin Academy to file a complaint, will they take care of it?” There is another commoner He shouted: "I heard that the person who sued Mr. Liu in the court is the official from Donglin Academy!"

The handsome young man froze for a moment, then smiled wryly for a long while and said: "I think back then, when I was still young, my father planned to send me to Jiangnan Donglin Academy to study. Now it seems that I couldn't live or die back then. I really did it." That's right." The words of the handsome young man finally met the appetite of the common people in Wuxi, countless people nodded in agreement and said, "Yes, yes, none of the people who came out of that academy were good people, they were all corrupt officials."

"Lord Liu, I see that you look sick, you must take care of your health." The handsome young man turned and left while talking, "You are a rare good official, and there are good people, I believe that there will be retribution in this world, you There will definitely be good rewards, and the court will definitely return your innocence, let you become a bigger official, and benefit more people."

Note: Liu Wuwei, a historical figure, a native of Wanxian County, Sichuan Province, the county magistrate of Wuxi during the Tianqi period. When he took office, the crops in the northwest townships of Wuxi failed every year. It was not a drought, but a flood. The farmers were seriously short of food. He discovered this area through field investigation Most of the local rivers are silted up, there is no water for irrigation during the drought, and there is a vast ocean during the yellow plum season, causing serious losses.So he presided over the construction of water conservancy, cleared the silt, and dug the polder river. When the drought was dry, the water from the canal could be used to irrigate the farmland.Due to the huge project and insufficient funds, Liu Wuwei succeeded only after dissipating his family's assets, and accumulated illnesses as a result.But when the success was completed, the local gentry and officials saw that it was profitable, and they all tried to occupy the fertile land obtained from water conservancy. Liu Wuwei upheld justice for democracy and tried to suppress land annexation.Later, local farmers and fishermen raised funds to build a temple for Liu Wuwei. It was originally called Narcissus Temple, also known as Liuhou Temple, and it still exists today.In the old days, on Liu Wuwei's birthday on the [-]th day of the sixth lunar month, there would be temple fairs and performances, which were very lively.

During the Shunzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, in order to buy people's hearts, the Manchus chased Liu Wuwei as Narcissus.

(End of this chapter)